In article ,
Janet Baraclough writes:
|
| There are circumstances under which that is the case. It is true for
| red deer in many parts of the Highlands.
|
| Um, if that were true for red deer in the Highlands, surely their
| population would be static? AIUI, their population has multiplied in
| recent decades, putting far more pressure on local ecology.

No, that is overly simplistic. In the real world, things are rarely
black and white, and they almost never are in ecology. For example,
the weather varies from year to year.

In many or most parts of the Highlands, the principle factor restricting
red deer numbers is winter starvation, which is why culling is humane
and banning it is not. In some cases, the numbers have increased because
the culling has been cut back to increase the population, but there is
also the fact that the winters have been getting milder for the past few
decades.

But, overall, the fact that there are more deer does not conflict with
their average lifespan being shorter. Provided that enough manage to
breed, the figures are largely independent.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.